GOLF SWING ANALYSIS APPARATUS AND METHOD

• US 20170087408A1
• Filed: 12/14/2016
• Published: 03/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Golf Impact, LLC
• Original Assignee: Golf Impact, LLC
• Inventors: Davenport, Roger, Reynolds, Paul
• Application Number:
  US15/379,256
• Publication Number:
  US 20170087408A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0625 Emitting sound, noise or music
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/063 Spoken or verbal instructions
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2208/0204 Standing on the feet
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/40 Acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/53 Force of an impact, e.g. blow or punch
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/56 Pressure
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/58 Measurement of force related parameters by electric or magnetic means
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/833 Sensors arranged on the exercise apparatus or sports implement
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/50 Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0003 Analysing the course of a movement or motion sequences during an exercise or trainings sequence, e.g. swing for golf or tennis
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0416 Heads having an impact surface provided by a face insert
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0466 wood-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/362 electrical or electronic
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3632 Clubs or attachments on clubs, e.g. for measuring, aligning A63B69/3614 takes precedence; clubs for swinging exercises in general A63B15/00

Abstract

A method and integrated golf club apparatus for directly measuring physical parameters of the golf club head motional acceleration swing forces, golf club head face, golf ball impact forces, and subsequent calculations of other metrics useful to a golfer'"'"'s understanding of the effectiveness of his or her golf swing and impact result in totality. The physical parameters that are directly measured include three dimensional motion force vectors of club head prior to, during and after impact and full impact pressure force profiles across the golf clubface with respect to time. The force measurements are made by at least one piezoelectric or differential capacitance based acceleration g-force sensor internal to the club head and pressure impact force sensors integrated into the clubface. The sensors are connected to electronics which condition, record and store the time varying sensors information electronically, then process and translate the information into one of several forms for delivery to a human interface function.

Claims

1. A golf swing measurement and analysis system comprising:

first and second impact sensors that detect impact of a golf club head; and

sampling circuitry that is coupled to the first and second sensors, wherein the sampling circuitry samples the first and second sensors simultaneously at a single point in time.

2. The golf swing measurement and analysis system of claim 1, wherein the sampling circuitry further holds for a period of time a first value sampled from the first sensor and a second value sampled from the second sensor at the single point in time, wherein analog to digital conversion of the first and second values occurs during the period of time.

3. The golf swing measurement and analysis system of claim 2, further including a processor that applies a sequencing group tag and time reference to both the first and second values and stores the sequencing group tag, time reference, and first and second values in a digital memory.

4. The golf swing measurement and analysis system of claim 1, wherein the sampling circuitry samples at a sample rate at least as fast as a Nyquist rate determined by a highest frequency component of all of a plurality of analog sensors connected to the sampling circuitry, the plurality of analog sensors including the first and second sensors.

5. The golf swing measurement and analysis system of claim 1, further including first and second accelerometers, wherein the first and second accelerometers are also simultaneously sampled by the sampling circuitry at the point in time.

6. A golf swing analysis system comprising:

a clubface;

first and second impact sensors embedded in the club face; and

sampling circuitry that samples the first and second impact sensors,

wherein the first impact pressure sensor is at a first location further from a center point of the club face than a second location of a second impact pressure sensor, wherein the first and second impact sensors are calibrated differently based on the first and second locations.

7. The golf swing analysis system of claim 6, wherein the first and second sensors are piezoelectric elements of a same surface area and thickness.

8. The golf swing analysis system of claim 6, wherein the clubface has an edge that is connected to a club head shell housing such that the clubface deforms less near the edge than at the center point.

9. The golf swing analysis system of claim 6, wherein the calibration is accomplished with fixed calibration coefficients that are set within a processing circuitry of the system.

10. The golf swing analysis system of claim 6, wherein the first and second impact sensors are sampled simultaneously by the sampling circuitry.